Runner with telescopic rods consisting of extruded aluminium tubular sections, for furniture pull-outs

Abstract: This invention concerns a drawer runner having telescopic rods sliding on balls, and consisting of extruded aluminium tubular sections (1,2,3). The rods are characterized by a rhomboidal tubular section having arched sides, sliding in another tubular section having a square cross-section and rounded edges, so as to form four identical sliding tracks for the balls (7), staggered at 90°, and delimited externally by the rounded corners of the external section and internally by the arched sides of the internal section.

Description: This design patent application concerns a drawer runner having telescopic rods sliding on balls, and consisting of extruded aluminium tubular sections. Current standard runners for drawers, or more generally, for furniture pull-outs sliding on wheels, consist of two pressed sheet plate sections - a box shaped section that is fixed inside the side panels of the drawer while the other section is housed and slides within the first, and is fixed externally to the longitudinal sides of the drawer. Telescopic type runners are also available on the market, but the only difference with respect to standard runners, is that they have a third box-shaped section fitted between the first box-shaped section screwed to the side panels of the drawer and the second section, screwed on the exterior of the longitudinal sides of the drawer. In all cases said box-shaped sections are characterized by a transverse "C" cross-section. Recently groups of balls have been used instead of the traditional nylon wheels, in an attempt to improve sliding. In these models the steel balls are housed and slide in pairs of overlying semi-cylindrical tracks on the interfaced longitudinal edges of the sections. Patent GB-A 659.534 describes a telescopic furniture runner consisting of three metal sections sliding on each other and provided with interposing balls or wheels. Patent US-A 4.030.609 describes a telescopic furniture runner consisting of three overlying metal sections, whose intermediate section is partially inserted in the other two external sections, having an almost square cross-section containing a series of cylindrical rollers which help the intermediate section to slide within the external sections. One of the main problems common to all said runner models for drawers sliding on wheels or balls is that they have a low resistance to supporting and opposing transverse, horizontal or sub-horizontal strain; in other words, although said wheels or balls ensure adequate support and runner action for the weight of the drawer, they do not adequately support lateral pressure on the right or left of the drawer which can easily occur when opening and closing the drawer. The purpose of this invention is to develop a new runner model with telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs that guarantees constant supporting and runner capacity regardless of the direction of the load pressure applied to the pull-out. This has been possible thanks to a special profiling of the transverse section of the telescopic rods being the elements which make up the runners according to the invention. More specifically, the traditional "C" shaped cross-section has been replaced by an external section having square cross-section slotted at the bottom and having rounded edges and an internal section having four equal angles and arched sides thereby forming four identical sliding tracks, staggered by 90° and delimited externally by the rounded edges of the external tubular section and internally by the arched sides of the internal tubular section. In said sliding tracks being fixed groups of balls which are caged at constant centre to centre distances within a collar with bottom slots and having four longitudinal rows of holes, staggered by 90°, each housing a ball. Various embodiments of the runner defined in the independent claim are specified in the dependent claims 2 to 6. For major clarity the description of the invention continues with reference to the drawings which are intended for purposes of illustration and not in a limiting sense whereby: Fig. 1 is an axonometric view of a runner section according to the invention with its rods partially drawn out; Fig. 2 is a cross-section on transverse plane of the runner according to the invention; Fig. 3 is an axonometric view of the slotted support collar for the balls which improve sliding between the sections; Fig. 4 is a cross-section on a longitudinal plane of the runner according to the invention, with the rods partially drawn out. With reference to the above figures, the runner according to the invention consists of three sections (1, 2 and 3), fitted and sliding in one another, and pressed in extruded aluminium. Section (1), which is fixed to the drawer, features a flat flange (1a), connected by a rib (1b) to a tubular element (1c) characterized by a rhomboidal cross-section, with four identical internal angles and four arched sides. rofile or section (2) consists of a tubular element (2c) identical to element (1c) of section (1); said tubular element (2c) is connected at the bottom by means of a rib (2b), to another tubular element (2a), having a square cross-section, with rounded edges and a centre slot (2d) on its base, which is intersected by the rib (1b) of section (1). The lateral walls of the tubular element (2a) extend towards the bottom with two vertical flanges (2e), whose bottom edge touches the flat flange (1a) of section (1). Section (3), which is fixed to the furniture pull-out, features a tubular element (3a) identical to element (2a) of section (2); said section (3) is characterized by a square cross-section with rounded edges, cut at the base by a centre slot (3d) and having bottom flanges (3e) on the sides, whose bottom edge touches and aligns with the lateral walls of element (2). The lateral walls of tubular element (3a) extend upwards to couple with a horizontal flange (3f) enclosing and concealing below the upper wall of tubular element (3a). Profile (3) is fixed to the furniture pull-out by means of a fourth section (4) consisting of an "L" square whose vertical flange (4a) is fixed by screws (V) or similar, to the furniture pull-outs, while its horizontal flange (4b) is fixed, by means of a fast hooking and release device, to flange (3f) of section (3). Said device includes a pair of almost rectangular stop knobs (5), which idle around a centre pin (6) screwed above flange (3f) of section (3). The horizontal flange (4b) of the "L" square (4) has a slot (4c) with the same plan as the knobs (5), at both its ends. Once the fourth section (4) is fixed to the furniture pull-out, in order to fix the pull-out to the telescopic runner, the same need simply be fitted over the runner so that the two knobs (5) fit into the corresponding and conforming slots (4c) of section (4); at this point it will be sufficient to rotate the knobs (5) slightly to fix the horizontal flange (4b) of square (4) under the knobs thereby stopping, fastening and hooking square (4) above flange (3f) of section (3). It should be noted that vertical flange (4a) of square (4) aligns perfectly with the lateral wall of the underlying section (3). With particular reference to fig. 3, attention is drawn to the groups of balls fitted between the sections (1, 2 and 3) to improve their reciprocal sliding. Balls (7) are caged in a collar (8), having a slot at the bottom (8a) and four regularly spaced rows of holes (8b) staggered at 90° in which balls (7) are housed. Balls (7) are pre-assembled in said collar (8), which is then fitted between the tubular element with square cross-section (2a and 3a) and the tubular elements having rhomboidal cross-section (1c and 2c), so that the four rows of balls (7) fit respectively into the longitudinal sliding tracks, delimited internally by the arched sides of the tubular elements having rhomboidal cross-section (1c and 2c), and externally by the rounded edges of the tubular elements having square cross-section (2a and 3a). Slot (8a) of collar (8) are intersected by ribs (1b and 2b) of sections (1 and 2). Figure 4 shows two plastic plates (9a and 9b) which act as endplates for the end of the sliding run of one section with respect to another. The plates (9a and 9b) each terminate at one end with an ovoidal head and at the other end with a fork having an internally concave profile conforming to the external convex profile of the above head so that the head of one plate enters and is hooked to the fork of another plate. As shown in fig. 4, plate (9a) is screwed externally above and at the end of the tubular elements (1c and 2c), while plate (9b) is screwed internally and at the end of tubular elements (2a and 3a). It should be noted that section (1) could be fitted with a second flange (1A) perpendicular to that (1a) of the above flange, when section (1) is screwed on the side of the furniture unit housing the pull-out. The horizontal flange (1a) in fact can be utilized as a support and anchoring flange of the telescopic runner to the furniture unit only when fixed to the bottom of the unit, while the vertical flange (1A) acts as support when the runner stops on the internal wall of the side panels of the furniture unit.

Claims: A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular sections in extruded aluminium coupled together and provided with interposing balls which facilitate sliding between one tubular section and another, characterised by three overlying tubular sections (1, 2 and 3) fitted into each other and provided with interposing open collars (8) housing balls (7) which roll along four longitudinal channels, one part being constituted by the interior walls of the external tubular section having a square cross-section and rounded edges, and the other part being constituted by the external walls of the internal tubular section having rhomboidal cross-section and arched sides wherein the first section (1), namely that fixed to the drawer, is provided with a flat flange (1a) connected by ribbing (1b) to a tubular element (1c), having a rhomboidal cross-section with four identical angles and four arched sides: the second section (2) is provided with a tubular element identical to the tubular element (1c) of the first section (1), which is connected at the bottom by means of ribbing (2b) to another element (2a) with a square cross-section and rounded edges which element has a centre slot (2d) on its base through which the ribbing (1b) of section (1) passes; the third section, namely that fixed to the pull-out unit, is provided with a tubular element (3a), with side, upper and bottom walls, identical to the square cross section element (2a) of the second section (2), but having side walls which extend upwards to connect with a horizontal flap (3f) below which the upper wall of the tubular element (3a) of the third section is closed and concealed; each collar (8) comprises a longitudinal slot (8a) and is provided with four rows of regularly spaced holes staggered at 90°, housing the balls (7) which roll in four longitudinal sliding channels, one part of the sliding channels being constituted by the arched sides of the tubular elements with rhomboidal cross-section (1c and 2c) and the other part of the sliding channels being constituted by the rounded edges of the tubular elements with square cross-section (2a and 3a). A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular sections in extruded aluminium, according to claim 1), characterized in that section (3) is fixed to the pull-out and by a fourth section (4) consisting of an "L" shaped square whose vertical flange (4a) is fixed by means of screws to the pull-out, while its horizontal flange (4b) is fixed by means of a fast hooking and release device, to flange (3f) of section (3). A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular elements in extruded aluminium according to claim 2 characterized in that the fast hooking and release device includes a pair of substantially rectangular stop knobs (5), idling around a respective centre pin (6), screwed above flange (3f) of section (3); the horizontal flange (4b) of the "L" square (4) having a slot (4c) with the same plan as the knobs (5), at both its ends. A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular sections in extruded aluminium according to claim 1), characterized in that the lateral walls of the square cross-sectional tubular element (2a) extend downwards by means of two vertical flanges (2e), whose bottom edge touches the base (1a) of section (1) and in that the lateral walls of tubular element (3a) of the third section extend downwards by means of two vertical flanges (3e), whose bottom edge touches and aligns with the lateral walls of the element (2) of the second section. A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular elements in extruded aluminium, according to claim 1), characterised by comprising as the endplates of the sliding run for one section with respect to another, two plates (9a and 9b), each terminating at one end with an ovoidal head and at the other with a fork having an internally concave profile conforming to the externally convex profile of the above head, so that the head of the plate enters and fixes to the fork of another plate; plate (9a) being screwed externally above and at the end of the tubular elements (1c and 2c), while plate (9b) is screwed internally and at the end of the tubular elements (2a and 3a). A runner having telescopic rods for furniture pull-outs, consisting of tubular sections in extruded aluminium according to claim 1), characterized in that the first section (1) features a vertical flange (1A) perpendicular to the horizontal flange (1a).

Inventors: COMPAGNUCCI ROSSANO, COMPAGNUCCI, ROSSANO
Applicants: COMPAGNUCCI SPA, COMPAGNUCCI - S.P.A.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A47B88
IPC codes: A47B88